Georgia GOP Primary: Rick Jackson Zooms Ahead

A late entry among Republican candidates for governor in Georgia has already reached first place in the crowded primary field.

A new telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports and A Public Voice Inc. finds that 22% of Likely Georgia Republican primary voters would vote for insurance executive Rick Jackson if the primary were held today. That puts Jackson slightly ahead of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (18%) and Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (16%), with the state’s Attorney General Chris Carr (10%) in fourth place. However, more than a third (34%) of the state’s likely GOP primary voters either support other gubernatorial candidates or are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The Georgia primary is still three months away, and Republican candidates are vying to replace Gov. Brian Kemp, who is term limited. Meanwhile, in the contest to see which GOP candidate will take on incumbent Democrat Sen. Jon Osoff in November, Rep. Mike Collins (34%) leads among likely Georgia Republican primary voters, followed by Rep. Buddy Carter (19%) and former football coach Derek Dooley (11%), with 36% either supporting other Senate candidates or undecided.

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The survey of 1,022 Georgia GOP Primary Likely Voters was conducted February 11-12, 2026 by Rasmussen Reports and A Public Voice Inc.The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Among the likely Georgia GOP primary voters surveyed, 74% voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Among Trump voters, 26% favor Jackson in the gubernatorial primary, while 38% would vote for Collins in the Senate primary.

Thirty-eight percent (38%) of likely Georgia GOP primary voters say that in thinking about Republican candidates for Senate, they’re looking for a Trump Republican, while 32% prefer a traditional Republican and 22% want a moderate Republican candidate for Senate. Among those who say they’re looking for a Trump Republican candidate in the Senate, 40% would vote for Collins.

Among other findings of the Rasmussen Reports and A Public Voice Inc. survey of Likely Georgia Republican primary voters:

– Seventy-nine percent (79%) approve of the job that Kemp is doing as governor, including 41% who Strongly Approve.

– Seventy-three percent (73%) view Trump favorably, including 45% with a Very Favorable opinion of the president.

– Jackson’s support is strongest among primary voters 65 and older, while Raffensberger does better among those living in the metro Atlanta region.

– Those who favor Collins in the Senate primary are about evenly divided between Jackson (30%) and Jones (26%) in the gubernatorial primary.

– Georgia requires a run-off if no candidate gets a majority of votes in the primary. In the Senate primary, either Collins or Carter would beat Dooley in a runoff, although the margin would be significantly larger for Collins. If both Collins and Carter meet in a Senate runoff, Collins leads by a 13-point margin, although one-third of GOP primary voters are undecided in such a scenario.

Fewer voters now have a favorable opinion of Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Kash Patel, although most Republicans still see him favorably. 

More voters think conservatism has been good for the country than say the same about liberalism, but both are viewed negatively by more than 40%.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only. 

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